How healthcare marketers can use audience data effectively

How healthcare marketers can use audience data effectively

Data is the essential component that makes programmatic advertising so effective. Accurate data helps marketers understand their audience and craft messages for the most receptive customers. Sure, you can deliver an ad programmatically, but without quality data informing your strategy and to activate upon you’re likely setting yourself up for disappointment.

With the availability of data from first-, second- and third-party options, marketers have access to a diverse assortment of data sources. The key to successful marketing campaigns is to understand the most effective ways to use audience data.

Here are a few points to consider in the interest of increasing the effectiveness of your audience data:

“The key to successful marketing campaigns is to understand the most effective ways to use audience data.”

Develop a data strategy

Lack of a data strategy means missed opportunities to leverage the valuable data a company holds. Data is often siloed and fragmented across organizations, which results in an incomplete view of the customer. Having a solid data governance and management strategy, and a data science-led, consistent approach to data across the whole business is crucial to creating a single customer profile. Creating a data strategy also helps to identify customer habits so that a marketer has a more robust knowledge of their ideal customer.

Define your target audience

Surprisingly many companies don’t have a documented buyer persona. They think they have a good understanding of their target audience but since it’s often based on fragments of data, their personal perception, or outdated organizational beliefs they risk missing the mark. In addition to analyzing internal first-party data (such as CRM data or website behavior data), marketers can survey their current customers, or engage a marketing research firm to gain additional customer data insights.

Be precise but flexible

Audience targeting allows you to connect with specific groups of people, therefore, a general “throw it out there and see what sticks” approach doesn’t work. While it’s important to be specific about who you are targeting it’s equally critical to not narrow your focus too much. You risk missing opportunities when you are too granular in your audience approach. In the programmatic ecosystem information is accessible and can be used to fine-tune the digital ad strategy in real time. Oftentimes the real time performance data of a campaign reveals many insights about an audience or leads to the discovery of an entirely new audience segment altogether.

Discover and reach new audiences

To introduce your business to new audiences you may not have considered before it’s important to not get too narrow in your focus. It’s also wise to use a variety of data sources and targeting tactics to optimize the success of your programmatic marketing campaign.

“Advertising without data is like cooking without using the proper ingredients,” says Michael Goldberg, Director of Content at Dun & Bradstreet. “Sure, the finished product may be edible, but it won’t necessarily taste good. Just like a delectable home-cooked meal, an effective advertising strategy requires the use of a diverse assortment of elements to make it a success.”

As Mr. Goldberg states successful marketers use a variety of data and tactics in their audience targeting strategy. Here are a few ways you can reach your target audience and scale your programmatic campaign:

Leverage different types of data such as behavioral and demographic overlays to create a deeper view of your customer.

Use multiple data sources to enhance your own data– complimenting first-party data with second or third-party data to fill in missing data elements.

Audience data and targeting tactics can enrich your programmatic campaign and produce great results. Marketers, however, need to consistently evaluate and analyze the data that they receive, review and learn from campaign results and optimize as they go.